经济学人312:绿色乱局 Tangled Up in Green Tape

 　　PITY the engineers responsible for keeping America’s coal-fired power plants up to standard. a court halted the adoption¹ of new regulations on that would have affected² lots of them—just two days before they were due to go into force. The suspended regulations, in turn, were themselves a replacement³ for an earlier set of rules which had been thrown out by the courts in 2008. The older lot have now been temporarily reinstated, while the court hears various challenges to the new ones. What the outcome will be is anyone’s guess.

　　可怜的工程师们，他们正为美国燃煤发电厂达到标准而抓狂。去年年底，法院停止采用一项新的法案，在这项法案即将执行的前两天。这项终止的法令是2008年被法院否决的法规的取代版。法院为此受到很多质疑，只能执行更早版本的法规。结果会是什么，仁者见仁智者见智吧。

　　Similar chaos⁴ surrounds another set of rules, these ones governing ozone⁵, which will also affect lots of power plants. In 2010 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed tightening⁶ restrictions⁷ on ozone—a surprise in itself, since the rules were not due for review until 2013. Late last year the White House overruled the EPA, and junked the new rules. Since the previous set, dating to 2008, had never been implemented⁸, a standard first adopted in 1997 still applies. But environmentalists have sued to put a fiercer one into force. Whatever happens, the Clean Air Act obliges the EPA to reopen the whole subject again next year.

　　相似混乱的情况也出现在其它法规的制定中，包括对臭氧排放的监控，这些法令也会影响很多发电站。2010年环境保护署（EPA）提议降低排放臭氧的限制，这是一个令人惊讶的决定，因为这项限制措施要到2013年才要复审。去年年底，白宫否决了EPA的这项提案。这是因为自2008年之前的规定还从未真正执行过，一项1997年的标准还正在申请中。但是环保人士要求尽快将其执行。无论还会发生什么，迎来复审的清洁空气法案将迫使EPA明年重新开始工作。

　　Last year the EPA also issued rules on mercury and soot⁹ from power plants. In theory that marked the culmination¹⁰ of a decades-long, on-again-off-again process first initiated¹¹ by amendments¹² to the Clean Air Act in 1990—although further lawsuits¹³ seem inevitable¹⁴. Also in the pipeline¹⁵ are restrictions on emissions¹⁶ of greenhouse gases, new rules regarding cooling water and the possible declaration of coal ash as hazardous¹⁷ waste, from which a stream of new requirements would flow.

　　去年EPA公布对发电站进行汞和烟尘的检测标准。理论上这项标准是数十年来自1990年颁布《清洁空气法》修正案后最高值。尽管这会引来更多的诉讼。同时关于限制排放温室气体，以及对于冷却水和煤灰视为危险废物的政策也在制定中。这样一来，将会出现更多的需求。

　　Confused? So are the power generators¹⁸. Conforming to these rules often involves installing new kit¹⁹ or changing the way plants are run, and on occasion shutting them down altogether. That is expensive, utilities complain. The EPA itself estimates that meeting the new mercury standards will cost businesses $10 billion a year. Electricity prices, it reckons, will initially²⁰ rise by 3% a year as a result. It puts the cost of the interstate air pollution rule at $2.4 billion a year, and of the ozone rule (if it is ever implemented) at $20 billion a year at least. Industry groups, naturally, have far higher estimates of the costs.

　　混乱吧？同样也出现在发电机领域。要符合这些要求就需要投入资金更换零件或者改变运行方式，一些发电机甚至要面临关闭。这样的浪费引起了公众的不满。环境保护署估计为了达到新的汞排放标准每年需要花费100亿美元。同时他们还预测电价可能以每年3%的速度增长。州际空气污染法规将增加每年24亿美元的投入，而臭氧排放法规（如果它实施了）每年至少要花200亿美元。当然，工业集团给出了更高的预算。

　　Perhaps even worse, from the utilities’ point of view, is the unpredictable and inconclusive manner in which rules are proposed, modified, rescinded²² and reinstated by the bureaucracy and the courts. This can make investment in pollution-control gear, let alone new power plants, an especially risky²³ business. Ralph Izzo, the boss of PSEG, a big power-provider, describes how his firm lost millions in the 1990s building natural-gas plants that were not in the end needed, in part because some of the EPA’s standards ended up more lenient²⁴ than originally anticipated.

　　更糟糕的是，官僚主义和法院让这些政策在不可预知和不确定的情况下进行修改和制定。这些污染控制政策让企业付出了更多的成本使这个行业的风险大大提高，更不用说那些新建的发电站了。一家大型能源企业PSEG的老板拉尔夫?伊佐介绍说，他的公司在90年代因天然气发电厂的建设中损失了数百万美元，部分原因在于他们最初过高估计了环保总署的标准制定，使他们的大量投入到最后证明并不需要那么多。

　　The EPA retorts that the benefits of all these regulations, largely in the form of diseases and deaths averted²⁵, far outweigh²⁶ the costs, at least by its reckoning. Others question both the inclusion in its sums of ancillary²⁷ benefits, such as the reduction in fine particles that will accompany cuts in mercury emissions, and the value it assigns to improved public health (see article). Moreover, the EPA did not dream up the seemingly haphazard²⁸ process by which most of these rules are formulated²⁹ and applied³⁰: that is dictated³¹ by the Clean Air Act, which was approved by Congress in 1970 and updated in 1990, both times with strong bipartisan support.

　　环保署则反驳说，所有这些法规的好处，主要在于避免了大量的疾病和死亡，这远大于投入成本，至少在他们看来。另外一些问题也能起到综合效应，比如，减少颗粒排放将同时削减汞排放，也就改善了公共健康。而且，环保总署的大多数的规则制定和应用并不是看起来那么杂乱无章，都是依据1970年的空气清洁法案和1990年的修正案，这两次法案的修订当时都得到了两党的强烈支持。

　　That bipartisanship has since evaporated. Republicans in Congress now argue that many of the EPA’s standards are too onerous³² for businesses and have introduced legislation to rescind²¹ some of them. Newt Gingrich, one of the Republican candidates for president, thinks the EPA is so anti-business as to be beyond repair. He wants to abolish the entire agency and start again. Business lobbying groups are only slightly less vehement³³ in their criticism. The American Chamber³⁴ of Commerce, for example, routinely denounces EPA regulations as “job-killing”.

　　而现在曾经的两党合作的景象已经消失了，共和党议员认为许多环保署的标准对于企业太繁重了并提出立法废除一些标准。共和党总统候选人牛金贵（纽特?金里奇）认为环保署的存在是“反商业”的，已经不是修补政策能够解决的了。他要废除整个部门然后重新开始。商业游说团体的批评稍微轻微一点。比如美国商会，一直在谴责环保署的法规是“就业杀手”。

　　Barack Obama and his underlings seem acutely sensitive to this charge, and have made several attempts to limit the toll³⁵ of new regulations on business. In the face of widespread complaints, they withdrew not only the EPA’s more exacting³⁶ ozone standards but also its proposed restrictions on emissions from industrial boilers³⁷. They have twisted the Clean Air Act to exempt³⁸ all but the biggest sources from the coming curbs³⁹ on greenhouse gases, and have delayed issuing rules even for them, adding to the confusion. When they have pressed ahead with new regulations, they have tried to be flexible, providing for an extended grace period to meet the mercury standards, for example, and preserving a trading scheme for interstate air pollution despite hostility⁴⁰ from the courts.

　　奥巴马和他的团队对这种指责十分敏感，并且做了很多尝试去限制新法规的所造成的投入。面对大量的不满，他们不仅撤销了环保署更加严格的臭氧排放标准，还废除了对于工业锅炉排放的限制。他们免除了几乎大部分温室气体的限制以至于扭曲了空气清洁法案的初衷，甚至为此拖延新规定的发布，从而加剧了混乱。而对于那些正在执行的新规定，政府也变得更灵活，比如延长执行新汞排放标准的宽限期，并且保护州级空气排污交易，尽管这会惹恼法院。

　　The courts, in fact, are the source of the worst uncertainty⁴¹ surrounding environmental regulation. They have repeatedly forced the EPA to revise its rules, rejecting decisions reached under both Mr Obama and his predecessors⁴². It is now assumed, says Kyle Danish of Van Ness Feldman, a law firm, that any important rule issued by the EPA will prompt multiple legal challenges. It does not help that the Clean Air Act does not allow the cost of pollution controls to be taken into account when setting certain standards. Nor is it really designed to handle so pervasive⁴³ and subtle a pollutant⁴⁴ as carbon dioxide—a flaw the Obama administration readily concedes.

　　环境法规如此混乱不堪的根源实际上就是法院。他们不断迫使环保署修改它的法规，驳回奥巴马和他的前任做出的决定。范?尼斯?费尔德曼律所的凯尔?丹尼诗估计现在任何环保署公布的规定都会遭到各方面的法律挑战。法院这样做也无助于让环保成本影响环境保护法具体标准的制定。奥巴马也承认现行法律的缺陷，它并不是为了监管二氧化碳这种即广泛又不易察觉的污染物设计的。

　　There seems little hope of updating the Clean Air Act amid the current shouting match about environmental regulation, however, and utilities are far from unanimous about its deficiencies. Mr Izzo, of PSEG, argues that the EPA’s standards are scientifically grounded, and that to water them down would be to penalise responsible firms like his which have gone ahead and made the necessary investments. Moreover, it is not clear whether the EPA’s critics really would like to see a more predictable rule-making process. Many of the utilities that complain most vociferously⁴⁵ about the uncertainty involved actually contribute mightily⁴⁶ to it by backing endless legal challenges to new regulations.

　　现在看来根本没有希望能在这场比谁嗓门大的比赛中让空气清洁法案变得更好，公共事业缺陷的弥补方式也没有得到统一的意见。公共服务集团（PSEG）的伊佐先生认为环保署的标准已经是理论上的最低水平了，继续降低标准，将会伤害到像他们这样走在标准前面，为环保事业大量投入的有社会责任心的企业。而且，也不清楚那些对环保署持批评态度的人真的想看到一个更有预见性的规章制定过程。许多公共事业也许真的是靠这些蒙受巨大抱怨的新法规引起的法律挑战而获利。

1 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

4 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

5 ozone   

n.臭氧，新鲜空气

参考例句：

• The ozone layer is a protective layer around the planet Earth.臭氧层是地球的保护层。
• The capacity of ozone can adjust according of requirement.臭氧的产量可根据需要或调节。

6 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

9 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

10 culmination   

n.顶点；最高潮

参考例句：

• The space race reached its culmination in the first moon walk.太空竞争以第一次在月球行走而达到顶峰。
• It may truly be regarded as the culmination of classical Greek geometry.这确实可以看成是古典希腊几何的登峰造级之作。

11 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

12 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

13 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

14 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

15 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

16 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

17 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

18 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

20 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

21 rescind   

v.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan.他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。
• Trade Union leaders have demanded the government rescind the price rise.工会领导已经要求政府阻止价格上涨。

22 rescinded   

v.废除，取消( rescind的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Rescinded civil acts shall be null and void from the very beginning. 被撤销的民事行为从行为开始起无效。 来自互联网
• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan. 他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。 来自互联网

23 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

24 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

25 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

26 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

27 ancillary   

adj.附属的，从属的

参考例句：

• The transport corps is ancillary to the infantry.运输队是步兵的辅助部队。
• This is just an ancillary business.这仅仅是一项辅助业务。

28 haphazard   

adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的

参考例句：

• The town grew in a haphazard way.这城镇无计划地随意发展。
• He regrerted his haphazard remarks.他悔不该随口说出那些评论话。

29 formulated   

v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• He claims that the writer never consciously formulated his own theoretical position. 他声称该作家从未有意识地阐明他自己的理论见解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This idea can be formulated in two different ways. 这个意思可以有两种说法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

30 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

31 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

32 onerous   

adj.繁重的

参考例句：

• My household duties were not particularly onerous.我的家务活并不繁重。
• This obligation sometimes proves onerous.这一义务有时被证明是艰巨的。

33 vehement   

adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的

参考例句：

• She made a vehement attack on the government's policies.她强烈谴责政府的政策。
• His proposal met with vehement opposition.他的倡导遭到了激烈的反对。

34 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

35 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

36 exacting   

adj.苛求的，要求严格的

参考例句：

• He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
• The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移，公众的要求更趋严格。

37 boilers   

锅炉，烧水器，水壶( boiler的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even then the boilers often burst or came apart at the seams. 甚至那时的锅炉也经常从焊接处爆炸或裂开。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• The clean coal is sent to a crusher and the boilers. 干净的煤送入破碎机和锅炉。

38 exempt   

adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者

参考例句：

• These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
• He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

39 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句

40 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

41 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

42 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

43 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

44 pollutant   

n.污染物质，散布污染物质者

参考例句：

• Coal itself is a heavy pollutant.煤本身就是一种严重的污染物。
• Carbon dioxide may not be a typical air pollutant.二氧化碳可能不是一种典型的污染物。

45 vociferously   

adv.喊叫地，吵闹地

参考例句：

• They are arguing vociferously over who should pay the bill. 他们为谁该付账单大声争吵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Annixter had cursed him so vociferously and tersely that even Osterman was cowed. 安尼克斯特骂了他的声音之大，语气之凶，连奥斯特曼也不禁吓了一跳。 来自辞典例句

46 mightily   

ad.强烈地；非常地

参考例句：

• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet. 他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
• This seemed mightily to relieve him. 干完这件事后，他似乎轻松了许多。